HD remakes are very much in fashion just now, and anyone not fully au courant with the concept should take a look at the God of War Collection for a perfect example of how to do such an refurbishment: solid frame rate, tweaked graphics, disposable price tag and enough little augmentations to make a purchase an easy decision even when the games included have been done and dusted a long time ago.
There’s next year’s Team Ico Collection too, a standard-bearer sure to find fortune with any PlayStation fan worth their merit, and Ubisoft have jumped in on the action with a re-imagining of the last-gen Prince of Persia games too (and rumours still bubble of the Splinter Cell series getting a similar treatment). However, it’s fallen to Sony to pick up on the next pack of high definition renovations with the Sly Trilogy.
Sly Cooper wouldn’t have been my first choice for a current-gen showcase of PlayStation 2 talent, but it only took a couple of minutes with the final code to convince me otherwise: this is brilliant stuff. It’s true that I was never a massive fan of Sucker Punch’s sneaky platformers (I much preferred the Jak and Daxter games) but looking back it feels like I probably should have paid them more attention.
The Sly Cooper games feature a racoon who happens to be a master theif, placed in a world much like our own except populated entirely by animals. It’s a blend of slapstick cartoon and brooding film noir, with characters playing off each other like a black and white movie but with a splashing of comic book scripting. They’re lovable, immersive adventure games originally appearing in 2002, 2004 and 2005, and are all eminently replayable today.
Let’s give credit where credit is due, though, Californian studio Sanzaru have worked wonders with Sucker Punch’s code. The visuals are pin sharp, the frame rate super slick and – save for a few low resolution textures made evident by the much improved resolution – the graphics look much better than I’d imagined they would. Even the (oddly non-skippable) cut-scenes look like they’ve been nicely upscaled.
The triple pack, which we’ll review fully in due course, contains (as you’d expect) all three PlayStation 2 adventures, plus a bundle of Move-based minigames. There’s also full 3D support.
Sly Trilogy is out early December in Europe (it’s already out in the States) priced around £25.
Charmed_Fanatic
Might pick this up if I have time, never played a sly cooper but liked the demo’s
Raider197
Can’t wait, looking forward to this more than any modern game.
hobgoblin
Never played these on the PS2 so looking forward to them this time around.
cc_star
Never played these, if I’m honest they look to embody everything I hated about the transition from 2D to 3D gamespaces, but a lot of people speak fondly of the series, so I’d be more than willing to drop my preconceptions and give them ago.
Raider197
I’m curious, what was it you hated about the transition from 2D to 3D?
Teabags
This and the PoP collection are at the top of my Christmas list. That’s a good 60 hours of game time right there.
Dan Lee
The 3D has been done really nicely; the depth perception is fantastic.
bap10
Looks great, never played them on the ps2. Great price for the amount of content.
Jak and Daxter next please.
MegaBonez
I never played these, but they look pretty ace! I’ll pick this up eventually!
SpikeyMikey23
Nice hands on but its a no from me, got so many ps3 games to play/finish, that i havent got the time to play games that i wasnt that fussed about 1st time around. Am looking forward to ICO and im having the GOW collection for xmas
cc_star
J&D Collection is a must, although only Precursor Legacy was great.
I’d sooner have a new PS3 J&D, will also give Uncharted time to rest